


Symbiotic

by Qille



Series: The Vengeance Series [9]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: F/M, Flux Buddies, Hurt/Comfort, Infection, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 07:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5281352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qille/pseuds/Qille
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nano has always had a good relationship with her flux. It gives her cool powers, and she gives it a home. However, some forms of flux act like a virus, and not everybody handles it well. This is the story of how Nano learned to control the flux. Takes place in Age 18, the Moonquest world, after the castle, post-Fallen, post everything getting frozen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Symbiotic

Nano had always had really good control of the flux. Of course... until it started to get stronger. Then it got harder to control. Especially when she was experiencing strong emotions. Whenever she got angry or scared, the flux would try and protect her. It would try and fix the problem to keep her safe.

The flux was an extension of her. As a result, it always responded to her emotions.

She knew how it responded to fear and anger, but she didn't know how it would respond to other emotions.

She had to find out the hard way how the flux responded to happiness.

She couldn't exactly remember what the occasion was, but it had ended with her and Lalna both being a bit drunk. Not bad enough to be hungover afterward or do something stupid like jump in the smeltery, but just enough for Nano's control of her flux to slip a bit.

She didn't remember what Lalna had said, but it had been really sweet and thoughtful. And because she was a bit drunk, she had kissed him. The kiss lasted for a good ten seconds before they both pulled away and sat there giggling like children and joking about who had cooties now.

After another hour, they both got tired, so they both went upstairs to their respective beds and said good night. The next day, they got back to work as normal.

It wasn't until two days later that Nano noticed Lalna was starting to act strange. He started acting more tired and lethargic. At first Nano thought it was because he was forgetting to sleep, but after staying up all night just to check, she realized that wasn't the problem. She also noticed he was eating much less, and he had gotten paler. When she asked him about it, he said he felt like he was coming down with the flu.

The next day, he started complaining that it was getting harder for him to breathe, especially outside in the cold and snow. That was when Nano thought it might be pneumonia. It would explain his actions and the fever he had suddenly developed.

Not wanting him to get worse, she forced him to stay in bed and try to sleep while she worked. She claimed that she didn't want him infecting their whole base.

That night when she finished all the work she needed to do, she went upstairs to check on him. She found him asleep with a half built machine by his bed. He must have had all the parts with him. She rolled her eyes and went to her bed.

She was woken up later that night by something. It wasn't a noise, it was just a feeling. Her flux was trying to tell her something was wrong.

She quickly got out of bed and ran to check on Lalna, but he wasn't there. Of course he wasn't. It was almost like it was against his nature to make things easy for her.

Quickly pulling on shoes and a jacket, she ran downstairs, but she stopped when she reached the bottom.

Lalna was lying curled up on his side on the ground, shivering and gasping for breath. Nano quickly ran over to him and rolled him over onto his back.

She was shocked when she saw a trail of purple liquid running from the corner of his mouth.

She recognized it as flux.

She froze in shock, and she would have remained that way had Lalna not gone into a coughing fit. She quickly helped him sit upright, and when he coughed, glowing purple particles came out of his mouth.

“Oh no...” she muttered, holding Lalna upright. She shook his shoulder to stir him into consciousness, and she put her hand under his chin and tilted his head up. He opened his eyes a bit and she saw that they were purple.

“Okay, that's not good...” she said to herself. She had to get him help, but she wasn't sure where to go or if they would be able to make it there, seeing as Lalna was much taller and heavier than she was, and they didn't have any fast means of transportation.

Still, she had to try.

Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around Lalna, prepared to try and pick him up. However, right before she did so, she felt a surge of power run through her arms, and a few mostly invisible rings of purple light appeared around her arms and legs.

She stood with Lalna in her arms, and he was barely heavier than the supplies she carried around all day. It took her a moment to realize that her flux was helping her carry him.

She quickly ducked out the door with Lalna in her arms, looking for help.

**XXX**

She found help by accident.

She had been on her way to Xephos and Honeydew's base to see if they could help Lalna, who hadn't regained consciousness yet. However, as she made her way there, it started to snow, and it got too dark for Nano to see. By the time the snow cleared up enough for her to see a few minutes later, she realized she was lost.

She wasn't cold because of how hard she was working to trudge through the snow, but Lalna was shivering violently and huddling close to her. She pulled him closer to try and keep him warm.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind them.

“Well what are you doing here?”

Nano whipped around and saw Ridge standing there, his long dark coat billowing behind him in the howling wind.

“Ridge!” exclaimed Nano, relieved beyond belief. “You've gotta help, there's something wrong with Lalna...”

Ridge narrowed his eyes and looked at the unconscious scientist. “I'll say. Here, come with me.” Then he turned and led the way towards a large mountain that Nano could barely see through the snow.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Ridge's base, which had actually been carved into the mountain. Ridge pulled the door open, and Nano rushed inside with Lalna.

“Bring him over here,” said Ridge, leading Nano deeper into the lair.

They entered a large room with what looked like medical supplies around the edges of the room. In the center was something that resembled a bed.

Ridge took Lalna from Nano and carried him over, laying him down on the bed. Then he waved his hand, and a golden light ran over Lalna, encasing him.

“What did you just do?” asked Nano, feeling out of breath from the long trek carrying Lalna around.

“I put him in stasis,” said Ridge, still doing magic. “He won't be able to stay this way for long though.”

Suddenly, another layer of gold light surrounded Lalna, mimicking his outline. Ridge lifted this up so that it was hovering directly above him.

Nano gasped when she saw the swirling veins of purple running through his entire outline.

“Oh shit, is that flux...?” asked Nano quietly.

Ridge slowly nodded, looking at Nano. “What did you do...?”

Nano shook her head, struggling to find the words. “We didn't... I didn't... do anything...”

Ridge narrowed his eyes at her and turned back to Lalna. He began trying to remove the flux from his system, but he couldn't. This flux hadn't come from the castle. This was Bonded Flux.

And he knew exactly who it was bonded to.

Ridge whipped around and walked towards Nano, who quickly backed away, scared at how angry he looked.

“Ridge...?” she gulped.

“Nano, this is no average case of flux poisoning. He was infected by _you_ , and because of that I can't do anything to help him.”

Nano shook her head. “Wait a second, you think I infected him? I may not know everything about the flux, but I know how to keep it from getting to him. I know how to keep him safe from it...”

Ridge violently pointed back at Lalna. “And does it look like he's _safe_? Nano, I’m not sure what happened, but it's the flux that's bonded to you that's killing him.”

Nano's eyes widened, and she started to look panicked. “It's killing him...?” Her voice was no more than a whisper.

Ridge felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. His voice much quieter and his actions calmer, he stepped forward again.

“Look, Nano, I’m sure it was an accident,” he said calmly. “Was... was there any point in time within the past week where your control of the flux may have slipped?”

Nano shook her head, not remembering losing control of the flux.

Ridge sighed a bit. “Well it had to be something,” he said, a bit of tension lurking in his voice. “I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and guess that alcohol was involved?”

Nano gasped as what Ridge said triggered a memory. “Oh, I do remember something that might help,” she exclaimed nervously. “A few days ago, we were drinking, but neither of us really got drunk...” She stopped, trying to remember if there was any point where she might have accidentally infected him with flux.

Then she remembered the kiss.

“Oh shit...” she muttered, her eyes wide.

It was almost as if she could remember it from the flux's point of view. She had been happy and reached out to him, and so did her flux. But it had actually gotten to him through the kiss.

“Oh gods, it's my fault...” muttered Nano. She looked up at Ridge, panic in her eyes. “I kissed him! That's how he got poisoned...”

Ridge slowly nodded. “This isn't the first time I’ve heard of a poisoned kiss, but this is the first accidental poisoning I’ve heard of.” He turned and started to walk towards one of the doors on the other side of the room. “Come with me.”

“Why? Where are we going? What are we supposed to do about Lalna?” asked Nano, having to run to keep up with Ridge's long strides.

“You have to learn proper control of your flux,” said Ridge, opening the door to reveal a spare bedroom. “Since it's bonded to you, you're the only one who can save him.”

Nano gulped, but she nodded. Then she stepped into the room.

“We'll start in the morning,” said Ridge before closing the door.

**XXX**

Nano sat staring at a block of tainted dirt. Her outstretched hand was glowing purple, as were her eyes. She had control over this flux, but she couldn't remove it. All she could do was move it around and keep it from spreading.

She had been at this for eight hours.

Ridge stood behind her, watching. He was impatient, but he didn't let it show. He knew how important it was for Nano to get the hang of removing flux, but if she couldn't even remove a simple bit of flux from some dirt he had found near the castle, how could he expect her to save Lalna from the Bonded Flux?

Nano glared at the flux, trying to remember what Ridge had said about removing it. She had to clear her mind, relax, and focus only on the image of the flux coming away from the dirt. So far she could move the flux from left to right and up and down, but she couldn't draw it out.

They were both incredibly frustrated by this. Finally, after nearly another ten minutes, Ridge stepped forward and effortlessly pulled the flux from the block and held it suspended above his hand, forming a glowing purple crystal.

“Honestly Nano, it's not that difficult!” exclaimed Ridge, his voice tense.

“Maybe not for you!” exclaimed Nano. “You've had a lot of practice at this.”

“So have you!” exclaimed Ridge. “Every day that you didn't let the flux take over your mind has been practice. Every day that you don't infect everything you touch...”

“I know how to hold it back, I just don't know how the fuck to get rid of it!” Nano shouted.

Ridge looked like he wanted to start yelling back, but suddenly, a small gold light appeared right by his head. He looked at it, and it let out a few small chirping sounds before disappearing.

Ridge's eyes widened and he ran for the door.

“What's going on?!” exclaimed Nano.

Ridge stopped in the doorway. “Lalna's getting worse,” he said, looking pale.

Nano's eyes widened, and she started to move forward, but Ridge held up a hand to stop her.

“Don't,” he said. “You'll only make things worse.”

Nano felt her heart sink. “But... but I can still control it...” she choked out. “I want to help...”

Ridge shook his head and threw down the purple flux crystal. It shattered on the ground, and the doorway became surrounded by flux, trapping Nano in the room.

“If you can get out, then you can come help,” said Ridge. Then he turned and left, running up the stairs.

Lalna had gotten much paler since Ridge had last checked on him an hour ago. His breathing was worse, his fever was much higher, and he was shaking. He looked to be in more pain, and there was a bit of the purple liquid dripping from his nose as well as his mouth.

Ridge shook his head and glanced towards the stairs, hoping beyond hope to see Nano come running up, having figured out how to control the flux. But there was no luck.

With a sigh, his eyes began to glow gold, and he reached through the stasis and began trying to lower Lalna's fever and take some of his pain. It was excruciating, but Ridge had done this before.

However, because he was preoccupied trying to lower the fever, he didn't notice that the stasis was slipping away.

**XXX**

Nano paced back and forth in front of the flux. Ridge had forced her into a corner, and she was pissed about it. She kept moving the flux to the side, but it would always move back before she could jump past it and escape. It was infuriating, just like the fact that she couldn't do anything to help Lalna.

Finally, she stopped pacing. She took a breath to try and calm down. She had to get rid of this flux and escape.

Then she heard the scream.

She froze, and for a moment, it felt like her heart stopped beating.

She recognized those screams.

Another scream reached her ears, along with the sound of Ridge cursing. Something had gone wrong.

Driven by a fresh wave of panic, she focused on the flux at the door with as much intensity as she could muster. She knew it wouldn't work though, because of how panicked she had become.

She had to calm down. She had to focus on removing the flux.

No. She had to focus on _why_ she was removing the flux.

Lalna...

That was the reason. Once she realized that, her thoughts were quieter. She repeated his name over and over again in her head, and she became calm. She looked at the flux on the floor and held out her glowing purple hand. Then, as if it were as easy as breathing, she pulled the flux from the ground and formed it into a purple crystal, which she carried over and put in a chest.

Then she noticed that her hands had stopped glowing purple. Looking down, she was shocked to see the purple color fading entirely until it was gone. Her arms looked normal again.

She could tell the flux was still there though, because her fingernails had turned bright purple as if they were painted. Reaching up, she also felt that her face had returned to a normal color, but she assumed her eye would still be purple.

Suddenly, another scream from Lalna snapped her back into focus. She turned and bolted up the stairs.

Ridge jumped a bit when he saw her and her no longer purple appearance.

“I see you figured it out,” he said.

Nano shrugged a bit before running over to Lalna. The poor scientist was deathly pale, gasping for breath and burning with a fever. There was more liquid flux leaking out of his mouth now.

He didn't have much longer.

Nano stood next to him and put one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead. She could feel the flux that was running rampant through him, constantly moving and making it hard to get a hold of.

She took a deep breath and steadied her hands. Then she caught hold of the flux and lifted her hands away from Lalna, drawing it out like drawing poison from a wound.

The Bonded Flux swirled around her hands for a moment. Then she quickly brought her hands together and extinguished it.

“Wow...” muttered Ridge, running his hands through his hair, awestruck at how well that had worked.

Nano ignored him. She leaned over Lalna, and she saw that his breathing had returned to normal, as had his skin tone and temperature. She couldn't detect any more flux or pain inside of him.

And then he started to wake up. She stood back a bit as he blinked open his glassy eyes. They had returned to their normal toxic green color instead of purple.

Lalna smiled when he saw Nano.

“I told ya you had cooties,” he said tiredly, his voice no more than a whisper.

Nano couldn't help but laugh, tears of relief appearing at the same time.

Quickly leaning forward, she threw her arms around Lalna and pulled him into a tight hug, which he returned.

He was going to be okay.

They were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I used the word "flux" a lot


End file.
